More News

Emergency bill would keep four MARC stations open

Friday, Feb. 3, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo David S. Spence⁄The Gazette A lone commuter leaves the MARC train in Dickerson on Wednesday night. The Maryland Transit Administration wants to close the station and three others on March 6.

The legislation must make rapid progress through committees and votes in the Senate and the House if it is going to halt the March 6 closing dates of the Boyds and Dickerson stations in Montgomery County on the Brunswick Line and the Jessup and St. Denis stations on the Camden Line out of Baltimore.

Sen. Robert J. Garagiola (D-Dist. 15) of Germantown is sponsoring the bill with 16 of his colleagues.

The emergency legislation not only postpones the closures until March 6, 2007, but it also requires the Maryland Transit Administration to answer questions regarding the ramifications of the closures.

‘‘It is my hope that [state Transportation Secretary Robert L. Flanagan] will see that the legislature is going to take action and he’ll reconsider,” Garagiola said Tuesday.

Senate Bill 366, which will be fast tracked, instructs the MTA to provide the General Assembly and the governor answers to several questions including ones on the maintenance and capital costs for the four stations.

Specifically, the bill asks MTA for the projected ridership for the Boyds and Dickerson stations as a result of the projected growth in upper Montgomery and southern Frederick counties and an evaluation of potential increased bus services and parking lot expansions near the stations.

The bill also asks for a detailed description of the $300,000 passenger warning system needed for the Dickerson station and whether other less costly systems were considered.

‘‘I’m very hopeful and encouraged. Closing the stations just doesn’t make any sense. Route I-270 is Maryland’s longest parking lot, and people need more options to get off 270, not fewer,” said Boyds resident Miriam Shoenbaum, an organizer of Save Maryland Area Rail Transit.

MTA announced the closures in early January, citing low ridership and the high costs of keeping the stations open. Average daily ridership for Boyds is nine; for Dickerson it’s 12, MTA has said.

Flanagan has said he would consider reopening the stations if there is enough demand.